1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus that delivers contents.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently, services delivering photographs taken on, for example, anniversaries as photograph merchandise edited into an album, a poster, a slideshow and the like have increased. However, when utilizing such a photograph merchandise delivery service, it is necessary to view and compare a very large number of photographs in order to determine suitable photographs, which results in the user performing complicated and troublesome operations.
Such a photograph selection operation places a very large burden on the user, and is a reason that many users may avoid utilizing photograph merchandise delivery services.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2003-186903 discusses a technology for reducing the burden on users of such a content delivery services, where the user receives content that matches a selection condition specified in advance by the user at a user-specified timing. Consequently, the user can receive desired content in an edited format at a desired timing.
Further, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2006-235905 discusses a technology in which suitable music for a slideshow is selected based on comments about a photograph provided from a user.
However, in both Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Nos. 2003-186903 and 2006-235905, the user needs to input a selection condition or a comment about the content to be delivered before delivery. Accordingly, there is room for improvement to reduce the burden on the user from content generation until the edited photograph merchandise is received.
Further, since Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Nos. 2003-186903 and 2006-235905 do not consider the interests and tastes of the user or relationships with other people, the selected content may not be appropriate for the user.
For example, in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Nos. 2003-186903 and 2006-235905, if the user wishes to give an album to a friend as a present, the user has to input what kind of relationship the user has with his friend and what kind of image the friend desires as a condition.